The instant invention relates to pipe couplings and more particularly relates to an adaptor for connecting a small water meter to a large diameter water pipe.
In recent years there has been a tendency for old mill buildings, factories, etc. to be converted into condominiums, office space, retail store space, etc. Since these old mill buildings and factories used large amounts of water in their operation, the water pipes and the water meters associated therewith were relatively large. An example of these prior art pipe arrangements is illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein WP indicates the large water pipes and WM indicates a large water meter. However, with the conversion of these old buildings, as stated above, the water consumption is now much lower and it has been found that use of the original large water meters does not give accurate readings for the lower water flows that now take place whereby water charges may be unnecessarily excessive. It is therefore desirable to substitute a smaller water meter in place of the original large meter so as to obtain more accurate readings for lower flow usage.
Pipe couplings of a reduced nature, i.e. for coupling a larger pipe with a smaller pipe, have heretofore been known in the art. In this regard, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,631 to Bryant represents the closest prior art to the subject invention of which the applicant is aware. Bryant discloses a coupling for connecting the ends of two pipes of different diameters. The Bryant coupling comprises a body member having a radially extending wall, and sleeve portions which axially extend in opposite directions from the radial wall. The coupling disclosed by Bryant is complicated, difficult to install, and is not effective for connecting pipes which have connecting flanges at the ends thereof.